A reputed mob boss who pleaded guilty last month to extortion was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison and fined $ 25,000.

U.S. District Judge Alfred Wolin ordered John Riggi into custody while he awaits sentencing on similar state charges on July 10. Riggi, 67, was placed on house arrest after pleading guilty in May to the state and federal charges.

Riggi, a former business manager for Local 394 of the International Laborers union in Elizabeth, admitted to extorting kickbacks from four contractors.

The judge portrayed Riggi, the reputed head of the DeCavalcante crime family, as a Jekyll-and-Hyde character.

"You are a respected community leader described as generous, compassionate and charitable," Wolin said. "But trial testimony showed him as a ruthless individual who abused and misused his position in organized labor."